Thursday, June 12, 2008

Jennifer at Family Musings tagged me for a meme ages ago and if you haven't noticed this already I don't do a lot of memes (rhymes with "dreams"). I have nothing against them--feel free to tag me all you like--I just don't know that I'm very good at them and tend to just blather on stupidly whenever I tackle one.

If you missed past pain you can read where I bared my soul previously by clicking on the "memes and misc." link under "Posts by Topic" on my sidebar.

I really should let my family tackle a list like this--I could pass around a legal pad at a family picnic, ask them each to write down one odd thing about me and they'd be asking for more paper but I'll do the best I know how. Here are ten odd things I love:

1. American Idol. Now given the fact that roughly half the solar system watches this show (it's in syndication on Mars and Venus apparently) this may not seem odd but to those who know me better the full shock of this confession is evident. You see I'm a bit of a culture snob. I can rave about the latest Jane Austen movie, catch up on Masterpiece Theater reruns and listen to my opera like a good girl but I wouldn't be caught dead watching a show like American Idol. I was curious the first year it ran but was rather disgusted because it was so obvious that Kelly Clarkson was the only one with a voice that I couldn't see how it was much of a contest.

So I've refrained from watching for lo these six years until now. I came downstairs while Andrew was watching the early tryouts for season seven and I started watching casually. Then more and more and more until I was completely hooked--as in I'm doing whatever I have to do to carry over until my next A.I. fix.

Andrew was rooting for Brooke (I think he was secretly in love with that one) and Grace was not-so-secretly rooting for Cutie-Pie Archuletta though I rather fancied Michael Johns (with a nod to David Cook).

And here's where I dig a little deeper: I actually downloaded several of the songs from itunes. Gasp. Yup, I loved several of the songs from the Dolly Parton and Neil Diamond tribute nights plus a few others and I can be found rocking out to them in my minivan from time to time at stop lights.

The addiction was bad enough to culminate in a dream where I was a contestant myself but Ryan Seacrest was madly in love with me. We had to keep things under wraps so the other contestants wouldn't feel bad and know that they had no chance. He ended up taking me to Wales to meet his family after the season was over . . .

2. Sponge Bob Squarepants. Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Absorbent and yellow and porous is he! . . .

We don't have cable, never had. But while we were in Florida last March our hotel had plenty of it and it was there that I learned that there is always sometime, somewhere an episode of Sponge Bob playing. And it's funny.

We had a lot of catching up to do, Bob and I, but it didn't take long to realize that he's one darn funny sponge. Have you seen the episode "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy Meet Man Ray"? If the name doesn't make you chuckle then you'd have to hear Tim Conway and Ernest Borgenine's voices and John Rhys Davies as their arch enemy, Man Ray. Now that's comedy.

The longing for the Sponge grew strong enough that when Andrew went out of town on business several weeks ago we rented a disc of ten episodes from the library (we still don't have cable) and the kids and I watched all ten episodes while eating Chinese food.

Things have become bad enough that Andrew has banned all mention of "The Sponge Who Shall Remain Nameless" in the house because it seems the kids and I can't go more than a few minutes without quoting a brainless line from the show then falling into giggles. Hard to believe I actually graduated from college isn't it?

Of course the ban is only nominally effective and we'll probably be found watching another disc on Saturday when Andrew goes up to Barrow again for the day. Sigh. Too funny.

3. Disco. We'll switch from television to music while I confess that I always have loved disco. Sure, I kept that little piece of information to myself in the college years but the part of me that heard the Bee Gees singing "Tragedy" and grooved has never died.

My Dad had the Bee Gees' "Best of" album and I'd play it it on the turntable, hold my push-button tape recorder up to the speakers as big as Cadillacs then play that precious tape over and over in the confines of my bedroom. But oddly enough I've never seen Saturday Night Fever I was too young to be allowed to see it when it came out and then disco wasn't cool during the 80s. Only now is it safe to once again admit you'd like to see John Travolta in a white polyester suite swaggering down the street to that thumping beat and wicked falsetto.

4. Scissor Sisters. If you haven't heard "I Don't Feel Like Dancing'" then I weep for you. A cross between the Bee Gees, the B-52s and Erasure, this song probably ties in with number three on this list because it's really is a retro-Disco treat that I have listened to again and again for nearly a year. I'm not sure what that says about me--probably that in a former life I was a flamboyant leather-clad gay man, which disturbs me not a little--but then deep down I really don't care, I'm too busy dancing.

If you watch the video on You Tube and check out his swinging moves then you'll get some idea of the show you'd expect if you were to see me when I've got this song on my ipod during my Friday cleaning chores. It's a show that you just don't want to miss people.

5. Highlander. I actually haven't seen any of the Highlander movies but my siblings introduced me to the cable series years ago. Since we didn't have cable (again with the cable thing) I actually would have my sister load up a VHS tape of episodes which I'd watch during the kids' naptimes until I could recite them then I'd have her tape me a new tape. I'm not sure why I liked the show, you really can't get hoakier than Adrian Paul pretending to be an immortal, sword-wielding Scotsman with a punky American sidekick can you? Nope, not if you tried. Maybe it was the theme song. Queen had a good thing going there . . . our library bought the series on DVD which I checkout in a very thrilled manner only to find it must have been the European (i.e. "Director's Cut") version which was a lit-tle too steamy for me. Sigh. All I wanted was some science-fiction decapitation and lightning, not skin. Is that so wrong?

6. Kraft macaroni and cheese. With slices of hot dogs. I don't know that there's much more I can say about this other than to put it out there and politely and quietly slink away. I could eat a whole box knowing full well that the fluorescent yellow stuff they optimistically call "cheese" is most likely radioactive. And for those of you who may not have experienced this culinary delight I would assure you that the correct ratio of macaroni to hot dog is one box of mac and cheese for two regular sized franks. Write that down.

7. Mondays. You hear TGIF all the time but for me it's TGIM. Which means that after a wild weekend filled with kendo-sword wielding sons and small girls playing dolls in high pretend princess voices and a constant stream of footprints and breadcrumbs trailing from my kitchen I suddenly have a quiet house where I can put things back to order while everyone's at school and work. Monday morning is when I catch up on my blog housekeeping and straighten up my house and relax in my jammies until 10 or 10:30 am. Pretend you didn't read that Andrew (what he doesn't know won't hurt him). I love Mondays and all the quietness thereunto appertaining.

8. Japanese rice crackers. I'm not a fan of Japanese food. In my opinion (however warped it may be) it's either always too raw, too tentacley, too spicy or too ricey for me. BUT . . . I love the Japanese rice cracker blends--nothing fancy or anything--just the ones with the different kinds of crackers mixed all up where you get little sesame ones, little wasabi peas, little white pasty who-knows-what-they-are squares and twisty thingies? Mmmmmmm . . .

9. MST 3000. Otherwise known as Mystery Science Theater 3000, the show where they take the World's Stupidest Movie (and who knows how they top themselves each week) then have a low-budget comedian and his two puppet robots make comments on the entire movie. In essence you're watching someone else watch a movie and the comments are the whole point (yes it's as stupid as it sounds, you have to be in the mood). It's funny and I'm a sucker for it. Though once again . . . no cable. Thank goodness for Netflix.

10. Dressing up. I know casual is in these days and you can see jeans at the opera here in Anchorage but for me fancier is always fun. I like wearing heels and nylons and dresses, I like getting ready to go out and then going out for a night on the town. I wish more people dressed up--my kids recently had a piano recital in the evening at the theater in our local library and my kids were tense that I made them wear dresses (girls) and ties (boys). I figured that it was a recital--that means you're supposed to look nicer than you would at a movie theater but you know what? With the exception of the piano teacher--who looked stunning in an apropos black dress--and one student who came in full prom regalia we were the only ones not wearing jeans. I like to dress up.

11. Etiquette. Which brings me to number eleven--the conventional wisdom says, "Aren't we glad we don't live back in Victorian times when everyone was slave to etiquette?" but I say that I miss those times and love those rules that keep things running well. I like knowing what "etiquette" says because it takes the burden of always knowing what the "right" thing to do is--you just do what the rulebook says and you'll be safe. What do I wear? Well what does the rule book say? Takes all the pressure off.

I love reading columns where people write in to Miss Manners mostly because the questions are always a hoot--they fall into one of two categories: someone's been slighted or offended and they want Miss Manners to agree with their grievance for all the world to see or they're trying to break the rules of etiquette for some reason they feel is justified but is usually to get out of work or money on their part. Miss Manners sees right through them every time and nails them to the wall and it's so fun to watch. Wicked of me isn't it?

12. Chameleons. My children have been cursed with a mother who doesn't like animals--it's really sad, but there it is. I never had pets as a child, never wanted any and dogs make me rather uncomfortable. I'm okay with cats but why bother? They don't like you anyway. Maybe if I lived in a rural area we'd have a horse or something or maybe some chickens but that's highly unlikely--I'm not the rural kind of gal (and a defect in my character I'm sure). But if I had to have a pet it would be a chameleon--those things are fascinating. With their big googly eyes going two different directions and their 3- foot tongues going in and out and their two-fingered hands and feet looking like their fingers are taped together or something. And then there's the color changing aspect which just makes them truly the wildest animal there is--or at least the only one I'd allow as a pet in my home. Do they shed or smell?

13. Reference books. I think I mentioned my habit of reading a book with a slip of paper which I use to write down all the odd words I come across. I look them up in the dictionary and memorize the definitions for future use--because "streatopygous" comes up in conversation so frequently. Well it's not just dictionaries that I like, all reference books are interesting. Not to read straight through but to just pick up and turn to any given page where you'll find something you didn't know. Encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauruses, it doesn't matter but some of my favorite reference books are the Webster's Dictionary of English Usage which gives you the difference between who and whom, The Language of Flowers for it's obscurity and the fun of learning that a mushroom means "suspicion" (which pretty much sums up Andrew's thoughts unless you'd include "pain" and "suffering"), A Handbook to Literature by Holman and Harmon which I will still turn to to jog the ol' memory on strophes, iambs and hypallage and the Dictionary of American History which I used back in high school to study for my American History class but which still has interesting tidbits of info--though not much after 1985. Did anything important happen after 1985? I can't remember.

54
comments:

Ah, Disco. I came of age in the 70s and disco was all the rage in high school. I just recently found the 24/7 70s XM station on our Direct TV and have been on a weird nostalgia ride for a couple of weeks now.

Now that you are an adult, let me recommend that you leave Saturday Night Fever a mystery. I watched it for the first time a year or so ago. It was awful. The dance scenes were fun, but the rest of it was horrible. No doubt I would have loved it as a teenager.

you sound like a "young at heart" sort of person. some of them are things that come from being born when you were born or from being how you were raised. i like most of those things, too. what is wrong with that? mostly i would say,"To each his own..." :-)

You should do these more often--it's fun reading your answers! Especially since I completely agree with so many of your answers! :)When we had regular US TV, we used to all sit on our bed on Saturday morning and watch Sponge Bob together. Fun. I LOVE Kraft macaroni & cheese (it has to be Kraft--cheaper or more expensive kinds just aren't the same!) and hot dogs. You're not alone there. Yes! I'm not alone in liking Mondays! It's my favorite day of the week. Always seems like a chance for a new beginning. I always feel energized on Mondays.I'm with you on the Japanese rice crackers, too, but they never last long here--my sons are wild about them, too.MST3K = too much fun.I also enjoy dressing up, and will do so whenever there's a remotely acceptable reason to do so.

I don't like American Idol or disco, though, so I guess we're not long-lost twins. :)

oh, mystery science theater 3000 takes me back to the college days -- getting home at ridiculous hour of the night and the only thing on our college dorm cable. it was hilarious! but you're right -- you soo have to be in the mood. (or for me, tipsy.)

Two comments: Spongebob and Patrick (and Squidward) are exactly like us. He was also the inspiration for the Howler's sense of humor--she laughed, spontaneously at the right place in the joke (the episode with the giant worm). I knew she was my baby at that moment.

And The Highlander: hokey as the series was (and I started watching because it was THAT hokey) Adrian Paul in that tight white T was HOT HOT HOT! I get all warm and friendly with Kevin just thinking about it.

I was in high school in the 70s too, but wasn't allowed to see Saturday Night Fever because of that infamous scene which was never actually explained to me. I LOVE Mystery Science Theatre.I do not eat Kraft Macaroni and Cheese since a drinking incident in college which I will not gross you out with.

"I'm not sure what that says about me--probably that in a former life I was a flamboyant leather-clad gay man, which disturbs me not a little--but then deep down I really don't care, I'm too busy dancing."Yep, me too. Still dancing.

I love Highlander! I always watched it with my mom. Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese is a staple with my toddlers, and I love it too, just not as often. Has to be Kraft though. MST 3000 was a favorite of mine at BYU and I miss it now - it's hard for me to find. I checked out the Scissor Sisters on Rhapsody and they are now a new favorite of mine! Awesome song, thanks.

Yep. Kraft mac & cheese with hot dogs. It's nice to know I'm not the only one...before today, though, I didn't know about the two hot dog rule. Thanks for letting me on that. :)

Oh, and I am supposed to be helping with an etiquette class for a group at church...I was going to get my hands on a copy of Tiffany's Table Manners for Teenagers for a refresher. I'm open to other recommendations if anyone has any suggestions...Thanks!

Ok, I admit, I did not read in detail all of those items in your list. However, I can't blame you for disco, highlander, japanese rice crackers, and MST 3000. Dressing up is fun but I swear if I'm lucky it happens once every 3 years. I'm totally relegated to dressing up at Halloween only it seems. LOL

So many cool things to comment upon, but I will just say GREAT T13. And while Spongebob is now banned in this house (got to the point that it was all Spongebob-alll-the-time) you MUST see the episode with the Sea Bear. You MUST. I found it, but Viacom is picky, so it might disappear http://watchspongebobonline.com/spongebob-squarepants-season-3-episode-20-the-camping-episode/

Number 6 made me gag. I'm sorry, but just the mention of macaroni and hotdogs brings back horrible memories. We ate that for what seemed like months, every night when I was young. It was a cheap meal and easy to make. Now I wouldn't touch it.

I love MST3K; Viking Women vs. the Sea Serpent was always my fave because of the home ec video before the movie. LOL! In Denver, we have Mile Hi SciFi, which does the exact same thing, in a live format. We can't wait to go to their next show. :)

Fun meme!I too was a closet disco lover in the 80's & glad I can be out of the closet now. Disco rocks baby, boogie down!

I'm gonna check out the sissor sisters video when the kids are asleep - sounds like a good one.

We love mac&cheese with hotdogs - I get the cheap brand & make 2 boxes with 1 package of turkey franks - yum-o!

I haven't seen MST 3000 much but have loved it when I've had the chance. They are so funny!

And finally, chameleons are the coolest of reptiles. I love almost all creatures out there (especially reptiles) but these guys are just fasciinating to watch. We would have one if they weren't so delicate.

I LOVE MST3K! My husband and I watch it with friends whenever we get the chance. In fact, a couple friends of ours made their own as part of a senior project in college. Pretty awesome. And I own 2 copies of "A Handbook to Literature." True, they were required reading while an English major at university, but now we have two...and plan to keep at least one. It's handy! (Plus, hubby is a librarian.) :o)

I must be a tad weird too! I found myself in way too many of those weird things.First, I must say that we do not have, have not had and probably never will have cable. I wouldn't mind satellite but that's just me thinking it sounds good but it's not happening.American Idol is ok and I, like you, got bored with it. We have Australian Idol but I've never watched although it has turned out some really great singers here. In fact, the runners-up seem to have done really well.I *LOVE* Spongebob and now I want to see if my library has a disc and then pick up some chinese take-away. Doh! Why didn't I think of that?Disco is still fun and I think you should really embarrass yourself and please, please get a video clip of you and your ipod doing Friday chores.(Can I just say you are organised to have chores on a specific day - geesh feeling less than adequate here).You don't have to slink away quietly on your own regrading the mac and cheese. Nope, I'll be joining you even though I haven't had any in years but I'm not saying I'd pass it up.Mondays, dressing up, etiquette and reference books are highly underrated. Glad to know I'm not alone in writing down words when reading that I don't know. It bothers me to no end to not know their meaning.I've entertained myself quite a bit flipping through an Almanac and discussing said events. Good on the coffee table.

Throw me in with the MST3K fan crowd. I have all the boxed DVD sets, and I even went on the studio tour (they filmed the show a mere 15 minutes from my house!!). Glad to see that there are other female MST fans out there! I've only ever met male fans.

Also an Idol and Spongebob fan! And reference books! I used to read the dictionary for fun!

Have you ever tried the Mac and Cheese with Little Smokies instead of regular hotdogs? I know, I know - I was skeptical at first too. I saw my sister and her husband doing this on a recent family vacay and considering casting out the evil spirits that had very clearly entered their bodies when they passed over the 'dogs for the smokies. But IT IS HEAVEN! Give it a try and I swear you'll never look back. Just a little tip, from one "mac, cheese 'n frank" fan to another.

I still love disco and have numerous LPs to prove it. I also love the Scissor Sisters and saw them in concert about 18 months ago. I think their first album is much better than their last and I know nearly all the words.